Air France is to have its own regional terminal at its Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) hub, striking a deal with airport operator Aéroports de Paris (ADP) that will see it rent the new facility for a period of 19 years.
Air France will pay the money up front, and in return will get a domestic terminal capable of handling 20 regional aircraft in the 50- to 100-seat range at any one time, with an annual capacity of 3 million passengers.
The terminal, to be known as 2G, will be ready in 2008 and will cost ADP around €80 million ($98 million). “This is a lot of money for us but a small amount of money for them,” says ADP.
Air France has made no secret of its wish to follow in the footsteps of Lufthansa and participate financially in infrastructure projects – the German carrier took a 5% stake in Frankfurt airport operator Fraport in October last year.
However, Air France has said it would rather invest in specific projects, such as the S3 and S4 satellite terminals planned for CDG. ADP stresses that, despite the Air France funding, it will retain ownership of 2G.
Meanwhile, ADP has been given the approval to raise airport charges by 5% annually between 2006 and 2010. ■
Source: Airline Business
